So if I have two heroes that both have backlash, and an enemy attacks me with an AOE attack that both heroes are in, can the enemy take 2 wounds if both heroes roll greater defense than the attack result?

On page 22 of the rules it states "Unless a special rule says otherwise, a model never takes more than one wound, regardless of how many more stars an attacker rolled." Since the attacker is a model, does this rule apply to him, even during his own attack?

What confuses me is if Backlash is considered a "special rule says otherwise" or if the attacker can only get the 1 wound

"special rule says otherwise" simply refers to the fact that rolling an abundance of stars in an attack will still only wound the target once. You either wound or you don't.The prime example of a special rule that says otherwise is Massive Damage, where each wound counts as two wounds.

In your example, two heroes with Backlash, hit by a single AoE... The AoE triggers Backlash on each hero individually, so yes... The monster takes a wound for EACH triggered Backlash.

"special rule says otherwise" simply refers to the fact that rolling an abundance of stars in an attack will still only wound the target once. You either wound or you don't.The prime example of a special rule that says otherwise is Massive Damage, where each wound counts as two wounds.

In your example, two heroes with Backlash, hit by a single AoE... The AoE triggers Backlash on each hero individually, so yes... The monster takes a wound for EACH triggered Backlash.

The problem I have with that is whether the rule on page 22 can be applied to the attacker as well. The attacker is a model, and whenever an attack is rolled "a model never takes more than one wound, regardless of how many more stars an attacker rolled."

Let's say that an attack is rolled. I would agree that the first hero with Backlash gets to roll, and if he/she rolls higher defense then the attacker takes a wound. However, if the second hero with Backlash also rolls higher, it can be argued that the attacker (a model) has already taken a wound during the attack and thus cannot take an additional wound.

This only changes if Backlash is considered a "special rule that states otherwise" or if it is considered a completely separate source. If it is a completely separate source (i.e. not tied to the attack at all), I'd like to see documentation or evidence to that fact.

So if I have two heroes that both have backlash, and an enemy attacks me with an AOE attack that both heroes are in, can the enemy take 2 wounds if both heroes roll greater defense than the attack result?

On page 22 of the rules it states "Unless a special rule says otherwise, a model never takes more than one wound, regardless of how many more stars an attacker rolled." Since the attacker is a model, does this rule apply to him, even during his own attack?

What confuses me is if Backlash is considered a "special rule says otherwise" or if the attacker can only get the 1 wound

The Enemy is still the attacker, and is still a model.

Backlash is a special rule - not all models have Backlash.

Each Backlash is a separate result, but not an attack. Neither has Massive Damage, so they each produce one wound, regardless of how many stars were rolled.